The Fullness of Life

It's been a busy week.

The lovely long Easter weekend was consumed by social engagements (fun but tiring) and chores (like long overdue weeding and a big pile of ironing - satisfying when done!). Instead of feeling relaxed after the 4 day weekend I felt exhausted (but at least there was chocolate).

And since then, I've been trying to get the next issue of my yoga newsletter finished which I finally did yesterday afternoon - thanks to the fact that the girls were happily entertained playing with the kids from next door. Apart from the occasional demand for snacks I was able to park behind the computer and get it done!

It's also GST return time, and PAYE time...so I've been trying to catch up on all my admin. Which I have!

And now it's the end of the week - TGIF :)

Tomorrow I turn 42. Another busy year full of busy weeks like the one just past, has gone by. The funny thing is that even though it feels like only yesterday that I turned 41, it also in some ways feels like eons ago - so much has happened, so much has changed.

For example the cottage has been tranformed! This time last year we were at the start of our renovation...walls were coming down, rooms were being rearranged, dust was flying. My eye infection had flared up. I was (to put it mildly) a bit of a mess!

Now I look around at our cozy cottage, with its lovely kitchen and bathroom, its small but spacious living area and its comfortable bedrooms. I can see (with reasonable clarity!) a comfortable home which I love living in!

Most importantly though, the changes have happened inside me - inside my mind and my heart.

Each day I am learning to let go a little more.

I am learning to love myself and my life.

I am learning that at all times I have an infinite source of Love and Power at my disposal.

And each day, I am learning how to tap into that Source.

So as I celebrate my birthday tomorrow, I will be celebrating another year of this journey which is my Life.

And I will be looking forward to another busy year.

But busy-ness tends to have such negative connotations...where we're so consumed with what we're doing that we lose track of why we're living.

So instead I think I'll look forward to another full year - a year of learning, a year of growth and discovery, a year of creative goals, conscious choices and intentional living.

Because if there is anything I have learnt in my 42 years, it's that we never stop growing and we never stop learning, each destination is simply another step as we continue our climb.

And that is what makes Life such a miraculous and joyous adventure.

(with thanks as always to Sarah for her wonderful photo!)

What am I going To Be today?

I sometimes get the feeling that my life would come to a standstill without my To Do List - it's my constant reminder of the endless and sometimes quite monotonous chores I need to do each day! With tasks as diverse as buying toothpaste, paying the phone bill and getting the cat speyed, my To Do List has become indispensable to my daily productivity.. if it's not on the list it probably won't get done!


And usually as soon as one thing gets done, another two are added. At the end of the day whatever's left undone on the list gets moved to tomorrow's list and so the days roll into weeks and months and all I seem to have to show for all this doing is an ever increasing pile of ironing and a few more (thankfully sparse) grey hairs.


But if life is made up of all this activity, a lot of which provides very little tangible evidence of all the effort involved, what makes it all worthwhile? How can I bring some meaning to my doing? If we're called Human Beings why do we spend some much time trying to be Human Doings?

So I decided this morning that along with my daily To Do list I needed to create a To Be List - something that would define who I am, something that would set the stage for my 'doing', something that would provide a little bit of meaning to my living.


So I wrote my To Be List - I listed all the qualities I value, all the characteristics I admire in others, all the ways of being that inspire me, and all the traits that I hope people might admire in me. I realised that these were all the things I hoped to be when I finally got to the bottom of my To Do list..all the things I'd become when I finally had a little bit of time...

But the amazing thing that happened when I made my To Be list was that I realised that these were not chores but choices. And I could choose them today, right now, in the midst of my everyday living.
My To Be List brought a new dimension to my To Do List.

So now I can Be Happy while I do the grocery shopping.
I can Be Grateful when I pay the phone bill.
I can Be Creative as I cook the dinner.
I can Be Calm while I get the kids ready for school.
And I can Be Conscious on my early morning run.
I don't have to wait to be all these things.
I can choose to be that person.
Today.
It really is that simple.

So what are you going to be today?

A new day

Every morning we are given the gift of a new day. Each day is a gift, a clean slate, a blank canvas. As human beings we have the ability to choose how we respond to each day.

That responsibility is 100% up to us.

This prayer by Marianne Williamson is the perfect start to a new day.

Dear God,

I give you this morning.

Please take away my despair of yesterday.

Help me to forgive the things that caused me pain and would keep me bound.

Help me to begin again.

Please bless my path and illumine my mind.

I surrender to You the day ahead.

Please bless every person and situation I will encounter.

Make me who You would have me be, That I might do as You would have me do.

Please enter my heart and remove all anger, fear and pain.

Renew my soul and free my spirit.

Thank you, God, for this day.

Amen.

Welcome

Welcome to my Soul Sisters blog!

I am excited about this new way of communicating and sharing thoughts about Life and Love. Of course sitting down together over a cup of coffee would be far preferable but we can pretend and remember and imagine. Besides, we know we are connected in so many ways beyond the physical realm!

My intention for this blog is that it will be a source of inspiration, guidance, support, unconditional love, friendship, creativity and fun. Because that's why sisters were made!

"Help one another, is part of the religion of sisterhood"
Louisa May Alcott